Cosmic Hippo Designs By Glenda Ganis

My entree into fashion began as a child designing clothing for my dolls from fabric and leather swatches, courtesy of my father who was an Interior Designer.  I later became a costume designer for film and theatre, but soon discovered a more encompassing avenue of design much more exciting.  Most of my adult life has been spent as a Production Designer which was a fabulous career for a misfit like me.  I’ve had no formal training but that has never stopped me from pursuing a dream.  I love using my God-given intuitive skills, love discovering new uses for ordinary objects and appreciate the intricacies of design in all forms. 

I’m fascinated by the purity of shapes, the architecture of handbags and how a simple skin of leather can be transformed into a functional and beautiful accessory.  I like the sleek unfussiness of clean lines and started creating my own handbags because much of what I’d found was overly designed and huge.  Chic and unique styling has become my passion and trademark. 

Like many other craftspeople I started out by making gifts for my friends and family.  The challenge of going beyond gift-giving is that I find myself constantly evaluating and perfecting my craft, which keeps it fresh and exciting.  I guess if something can be made by hand, I’ll find a way to do it.  

The collection is one-of-a-kind. It can take anywhere from 4 to 24+ hours to make one handbag and requires a Zen-like focus.  It is labor intensive and each stitch comes from my heart.  

As a production designer I was used to dealing with themes and concepts so I’ve applied the same thought process to the design of handbags.  I wanted to create a bag that was office casual yet dressy enough to take you through the evening … something small yet practical enough to hold the essentials.  The bags also had to be luxurious to the touch, affordable, use no conventional hardware and perhaps have a surprise or two, such as the unique blend of leather with Asian beads, particularly Jade. I've recently discovered zippers are a good thing.  

To complement the line and because the bags are predominantly small, I’ve created miniature leather envelopes that can be used as wallets, coin purses or card cases, as well as 2” leather trimmed mirrors.  These are the only items that I produce in quantity.  Everything else is one-of-a-kind (or by request) so when you buy a handbag from me you are assured that you're getting something you won’t find any place else. They are also branded with my logo in saddle leather.

I use three stitching techniques:  whip stitching, saddle-stitching and a stitch I’ve created which is a complex triple-stitch.  Whip stitching is commonly used on fabric or yarn to finish edges.  Used on leather it becomes a decorative and strong binding.  Saddle-stitching is normally used for making harnesses, but I use it for wallets.  The process involves using two needles, one after the other in each hand with the leather held taut inside a “clam”.  I’ve made my clam using two pieces of 30” long hardwood held together by a C-clamp.  The contraption is then held between my knees.  Comfortable, no, but effective.

Environmental initiatives:

Cosmic Hippo Designs implements ways to reuse recycle and diminish its ecological footprint on the earth.  Our cardboard boxes are collected and reused as many times as possible.  Printing paper is used on both sides and/or torn up and used as note paper.  Leather scraps are also saved and re-purposed. 

I hope you enjoy viewing my work as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it.  Thank you!

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